Pet
by EnigmaticMind2016
Summary: She wasn't supposed to mean so much to him...but she did. OR Diego does some deep thinking on a certian wolf. Diego/Keeva


**A/N: Alright! Coming back at you with another one-shot. This time a sort of Diego/Keeva. A little different than my usual stuff, not a lot of dialogue, but I hope you guys like it.**

 **A little shorter than my usual one-shots, but definitely worth checking out.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Ice Age. I do own my OCs.**

Diego did not get where he was by feeling regret. He was a marksman, a hunter, he could not do his job efficiently if he went about feeling pity for every target he took down, innocent or not. He'd hardened his heart early on in life, had just about brushed aside any sense of morals he ever held.

And then he met _her._

She wasn't supposed to mean anything to him.

He was completely thrown to find a wolf in the human den. For a moment, he thought he had competition for the kill, but no. She'd defended the humans, put her own life in jeapordy for theirs. Diego had never been so repulsed.

She was a _pet._

She was a servant of man. She ate from man's hand, slept by man's fire, and apparently, guarded man's cubs.

He remembered seeing the anguish in her eyes when the woman jumped over the falls, and the cold fury as she blamed him for the human's fate. No way she'd survive that jump. He might've felt it then, when those deep blue eyes narrowed on him, overly bright with unshed tears. He brushed it aside, what care did he have for the woman _or_ the wolf? He only needed the baby.

She'd beat him down the cliff, predictably, but he hadn't counted on her making friends. He hadn't counted on her finding a mammoth to back her. Injured, she could've been easily disposed of. So could the sloth, but no lone predator could take on a mammoth, not and live anyway. So, he had to re strategize.

She was making a very simple task very hard.

He might've felt it again, when he saw her laying in the grass, nursing the wound _he_ gave her, but it was overshadowed by the opportunity to speak to the mammoth without her interference.

It hadn't gone exactly the way he wanted, but he was nothing if not adaptable.

When the mammoth rounded on the sloth, the wolf lost all of her good sense. He'd seen the milliseconds fast change of her expression. The humored grin vanished from exsistance and that haunted look returned to her eyes, along with a deep sadness. Her eyes were very telling, he noticed. He didn't feel regret then, he didn't know what that tightness in his chest was, he didn't _want_ to know. He pushed it aside to.

Keeva.

That was her name, he learned when he finally attempted a semi-cordial conversation with her. It ended with nothing but snarling and vague threats.

He couldn't figure her out. His experience with females wasn't vast, not that he'd ever admit that. He found himself unable to handle all of their toiling emotions. Keeva's especially.

She shouldn't be making him feel this way. Whatever way it was. He needed his focus and indifference to the wellbeing of those who didn't matter, because she _didn't matter._

She wasn't always a pet, come to find out.

She had a pack, and a mother who was supposed to come back for her. Instead, Keeva was abandoned to the humans. If that wasn't cold, Diego didn't know what was. Well, that was a lie, but still.

He felt it then.

Regret.

He watched her staring at the fire. The flame's light absorbed into her dark fur and cast an odd light into those sad, sad eyes. It was the lowest, demurely form of her he had ever seen. It made his chest hurt, and it choked off any words he thought to say.

He didn't brush it aside this time.

Keeva excused herself to sleep, and he laid there dreading the dawn. She wasn't supposed to mean anything to him...

...but she did.

 **A/N: Yeesh. It borders on romance doesn't it? Well, take it however you like. I know Diego/Keeva shippers exsist. I really just wanted to try and get in Diego's head when it came to the first female member of the herd. I really don't see him having much experience with girls, making him a bit...clumsy when it comes to dealing with them.**

 **Okay, I'll shut up now. Feedback please? This one has me nervous.**

 **See you next time!**


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